Clove

I liked it for the most part. The book is a bit cliche and has the typical YA style of writing, but the characters are likeable and well crafted. The author was a screenwriter first and it influences the writing. At times the character's emotional descriptions felt more like direction than what the character is actively felling in the moment. If that makes sense. The book as a very solid beginning and middle, but I wasn't a fan of how it ended. Its an enjoyable read and I am interested to see where the story goes moving forward.

A wonderful fantasy book that has strong world-building. I really enjoyed having so many character POVs. At first it felt a bit overwhelming since each POV introduced a separate cast of characters, it was enjoyable since if I was ever a bit bored with a particular character's story the other POVs would keep me reading. The way the Shannon eventually weaves all of the stories together is beautiful. In a genre that is constantly filled with half-baked, trope-filled characters, all of Shannon's characters had a refreshing amount of depth to them. The ending was satisfying for the most part and tied up any lose ends. I don't love Niclays' character arc, but everything else about the book is 5 stars to me. It helpoed to reignite my passion for reading after taking a multiple years long break.

I enjoyed how Aveyard explored the relationships and emotional conflicts of all of the different people in the rebel group. Since this book takes place all across Norta, instead of just in Whitefire there was a chance for the scope of the book to eclipse the relationship conflicts that made the first book good. I would have rated it much higher if not for the ending. Maven and his group is supposed to be shocking and scary, but the ending felt pulled out of nowhere. Its like the word count got met and she just decided to end the book. The first time Mavens group shows up with the sounder it makes sense. The group was already worried about alerting the guards in the city, so when Maven shows up it feels like a fun twist on your expectations. You thought one bad guy was there, but it was actually the eviller, scarier bad guys. The ending has no warning, no lead up; just traveling to a new location then boom random imprisonment. It may be 'realistic' for the rebels to not know that they will be captured, but springing it on to the audience with out foreshadowing feels cheap.

The book starts off a bit slow but once you get into the court politics part it is really good! Lore's feeling toward Gabe felt a bit forced. Personally I don't think they had any chemistry, but it does take up much space in the story. Once the third act began it really got me hooked. I prefer the second book in the series since it has less exposition and focus on just moving the story along.

I was excited about the premise of the book, but I DNF. The first few chapters were hard to get through because the author was just telling the audience what was happening instead of showing it. I also found it difficult to connect with the main character. I understand that not every MC is supposed to be likeable; but since the author doesn't establish the reason for Lorelei's contempt in the beginning, it just made it harder to enjoy the world-building and other characters. This book does get extra brownie points though for having such a gorgeous cover.